Adaptive Skills and Maladaptive Behavior of Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorders Attending Special Schools in Singapore

Poon, Kenneth K.

Journal of the International Association of Special Education, v12 n1 p65-70 Spr 2011

This study describes the profile of and relationships between adaptive skills and the maladaptive behaviors exhibited by adolescents with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) attending special schools in Singapore. Parents of 20 adolescents with ASD attending special schools completed the Development Behavior Checklist (DBC; Einfeld & Tonge, 1995; Einfeld & Tonge, 2002) and were interviewed on Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales, second edition (VABS-II; Sparrow, Cicchetti, & Balla, 2005). Consistent with studies conducted in other contexts, this study reported low levels of adaptive skills and the presence of challenging behavior, albeit at levels reflecting lower levels of severity when compared with previous research. The only statistically significant relationship between the instruments was the correlation between the social and communication subscales of the VABS-II with the social relatedness subscale of the DBC. Implications for further research and for practice are discussed. (Contains 2 tables.)